Handlery Hotel to Hold Second Annual Mission Valley Craft Beer Festival

San Diego, California (January 11, 2011):  The Handlery Hotel & Resort is proud to present the Second Annual Mission Valley Craft Beer Festival on Sunday, March 27, 2011 from 12 noon to 6 p.m.  This event is open to the public for patrons over the age of 21 with valid identification.  Cost for the event is $35.00 presale at www.brownpapertickets.com or $40.00 at the door.

Delight all of your senses as you tempt your taste buds with delicious food and cold beer supplied by 15 local chefs and 30 local craft breweries.  Listen to the sounds of special musical guests: Missy Anderson, Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels, Safety Orange, and Geezer.

As of January 1^st, confirmed breweries include: Airdale Brewing Company, Ballast Point Brewing Company, The Bruery, Firehouse Brewing Company, La Jolla Brewhouse, Mission Brewery and New English Brewing Company.  Confirmed chefs include Eron Baker of Baker Shake Foods, Hanis Cavin of Kensington Grill, Antonio Friscia of Stingaree, Mark Leisman of San Diego Desserts, Karl Prohaska of Handlery Hotel & Resort, Eric Sarkisian of Tom Ham’s Lighthouse and Mathew Sisson of Lomas Santa Fe Country Club. The Handlery Hotel and Resort will revise the list of participating brewers and chefs as their confirmations are received.

Proceeds from the event benefit Fresh Start Surgical Gifts, a non-profit organization that provides reconstructive plastic surgery and related services to children and young adults with physical deformities. All services are provided free. The services, including surgery, dental, and speech clinic are provided in San Diego, California.

One of the top hotels in San Diego, the Handlery Hotel & Resort is the perfect choice for vacationing families, international travelers, groups, and business guests. As a family-owned hotel, The Handlery creates great experiences for guests by offering personal service, a laid-back social atmosphere, and a family-oriented environment. Ideally located near major attractions in San Diego, the Handlery Hotel & Resort was completely renovated inside and out during 2010, setting a new standard for affordable luxury. 

The Handlery Hotel and Resort is located at 950 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108. For additional information call (619) 398-8348 or visit: www.handlery.com/sd

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Media Inquiries:

Gus Thompson – Restaurant Manager
Handlery Hotel and Resort
(619) 398-8348

 GThompson@Handlery.com

HANDLERY HOTEL & RESORT REOPENS FOLLOWING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR RENOVATION

(February 15, 2010) - The Handlery Hotel and Resort in San Diego announced today that it will reopen for business on February 19, 2010 following a three month multi-million dollar renovation, upgrading the entire property and improving its meeting space.  To celebrate, the hotel is offering a grand reopening rate of $105 for a standard room. The three-star property, which closed for renovation in November 2009, has opened all jobs to the original staff, and is once again ready to host guests with the impeccable service and comfort for which Handlery Hotels have become known. 

“We are thrilled to have completed this property-wide renovation that will help us better serve our valued guests,” said General Manager Peter Lassalette.  “As a family owned and operated company, Handlery Hotels is all about creating great experiences.  This investment in our hotel and our employees allows us to continue and grow that tradition.”

The extensive improvements made to the property include a complete renovation of all 217 guest rooms with new custom marble top furniture, carpeting, wall covering, drapery, 37 inch flat screen TVs, ergonomic desk chairs and upgraded bedding.

Common areas and event space were also improved with new carpeting and wallcoverings, state of the art electronic event screens, artwork, and lush, tropical landscaping.  An additional small meeting room was added to the property’s event facility providing more space for break out meetings.  The exterior of the hotel received fresh paint while the island-like pool area was resurfaced and the landscape innovatively redesigned.

For more information or to make reservations at the hotel, please visit www.handlery.com or call the hotel at 619-298-0511 or 800-667-6567. 

About Handlery Hotel & Resort San Diego

The Handlery Hotel and Resort (formerly the Stardust Hotel and Country Club) provides a relaxed atmosphere while offering the highest level of comfort and convenience.  Located in the heart of America’s finest city, San Diego, the hotel is at 950 Hotel Circle North, just off Interstate 8, in Mission Valley.  The hotel is just minutes from the world famous San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Old Town, Padres Baseball Stadium, Chargers Football Stadium, Downtown, the airport, Gaslamp District, and miles of breath taking beaches.  Within walking distance of the hotel is the 27 hole Championship Riverwalk Golf Course, Westfield Fashion Valley shopping center featuring a wide variety of stores, restaurants and movie theaters. The Handlery family built the hotel in 1954 and has operated it since then.

The Handlery Hotel & Resort is excited to announce our multi-million dolloar renovation to our entire hotel! Always striving to provide our guests with the ultimate in comfort and guest service, the renovation will include complete renovation of our guest rooms, public space and event space.

Our property will be closed begining November 23, 2009 and will re-open February 20, 2010.

I just wanted to let everyone know what is going on at the Handlery Hotel & Resort. We have been looking forward to this for some time. I am looking forward to sharing each exciting step with you all!!

We are proud to announce that San Diego’s Handlery Hotel and Resort is now dog friendly!  Our new pet policy allows small dogs under 40 pounds in the hotel.  After many guest requested to bring along their four legged family member, we realized that we had to start accepting dogs.  So to accommodate our guests, the Handlery Hotel changed hotel policy to allow dogs.  To celebrate our new status as a San Diego dog friendly hotel, the Handlery Hotel encouraged all employees to bring their dog to work. (Photos coming soon).

And for those of you that are allergic to dogs, don’t worry.  We have implemented the highest standard of deep cleaning all rooms where dogs have been.  HEPA filters galore.

Here’s to the Handlery Hotel being dog friendly!

San Diego’s Handlery Hotel and Resort is definitely unique.  It is one of the last family-owned and managed hotels left in the area.  In fact, Handlery Hotels used to be the largest family-owned and operated hotel chain in the state of California!  It also used to feature a mermaid splash pool.  I also bet you didn’t know that the Handlery Hotel & Resort has the LARGEST pool in Mission Valley.  No wonder we host Sunday Pool Parties with free admission–the local San Diegans can’t get enough of our pool.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle has highlighted how rare it is for a hotel do undergo a multi million dollar renovation during a recession.  But we are committed to providing our guests the very best experience and are willing do to what it takes–even spending more money when others are cutting back.  Here’s a sneek peak at what’s to come.

For most of my life I’ve been a baseball fan.  Some may say it’s because I played the game from age nine until I was 18 in very competitive leagues.  Some will think it’s because I also played softball during all my years in the military, and that’s kind of like baseball isn’t it?  I simply translated my love of pitching and defense to a medium where the focus is truly on the hitter.  I saw some terrific things during my lifetime; the timeless Nolan Ryan and several of his no hitters; Cal Ripken breaking a longevity record that truly astounds in that it brought up all the longevity records from other workaday people who never ever miss a shift; the simple joy of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chasing a dream home run season (later ruined amid rampant discussions of steroids); the Red Sox breaking their futility and winning not only one but two World Series.  I fell in love with the game with that first solid ping of aluminum against leather.  It’s a solid feeling that you feel in your guts that can’t be otherwise described.  But beyond that, I love baseball for history. 

There is a certain timeless quality to it.  Small changes to the rules happen each and every year.  Pitchers mounds get raised and lowered according to the public’s demands for offense.  We saw the “dead ball” era when hitters simply seemed too good.  The public demanded bigger! better!, faster!, more! and baseball responded with it’s “juiced era” that eventually ended amid Congressional investigations, shame, and a the questioning of some standards that are held most dear. But the only reason all of this happened is because baseball has rumbled along virtually unchanged for a century or better.  When measuring the worth of a career, you have history as a measuring point.  Is Albert Pujols or A-Rod a superior player to Honus Wagner or Ty Cobb?  The answer can only be yes and no. There is no way to replicate the conditions for either.  Would A-Rod be as good playing for a steel mill team?  Did Ty Cobb ever have a trainer? A nutritionist? Video analysis of his every at bat?  It’s always a yes and a resounding no.

The appreciation of the timeless quality of baseball has served me well in my profession. (By the way, the collective sigh you just heard is from the mighty dozen of my readers who just realized I’ve come to my point)

  Cooking is, and has always been, timeless. It should remain that way forever.

Now it would be easy for me to elaborate on time lingered over a pot roast served by my grandmother that had the taste and texture of a hot damp wool blanket. Or to revel in the sheer genius of her mashed potatoes and gravy at the very same meal.  I can’t enliven your lives with stories at Gram’s apron strings learning how to cook Sunday dinner since we’re talking about a woman whose oven knew two settings; 450 and off. I won’t bore you with the story of the first time I truly tasted a raw oyster, and I mean truly tasted, where eating them for the gross out factor of others around me became a segue into a world of levels of salinity and melon/cucumber/clean aftertaste.  It goes beyond anything in my experience and speaks more to to collective experience of all my Cheffly brethren.  Pirates to be sure, but also slaves to and students of history.

Take a look at any great chef.  And I do mean ANY great chef. Whether you’re looking at an uber-traditionist, fusion dude, retro throwback guy, fanatical classicist or a molecular gastronomy mad scientist, they all have one thing in common: they know and appreciate solid, simple, cuisine.  You can’t manipulate anything without knowing it’s nature. Same goes with people but the human fallibility makes us a much easier target.  I’ve never in my lifetime met a vain squash or an insecure eggplant.  Well, maybe a small Japanese eggplant could have some “issues” about their size but they could argue they had all the taste in a smaller more efficient size. However, this is hardly the point.

During my recent trails and tribulations on the road to find a new culinary home, I’ve stayed in a LOT of hotels.  Some were spectacular; others made me wonder how in the hell a hotel got stuck precisely here (hello city in Southern Ohio!).  The one thing remarkable about all these different properties is how different their menus are written, executed, and the bizarre nature of the names assigned to their various and sundry offerings.  One such menu offended me so much that I wrote a three-page critique on it and gave it to the GM.  Understandably, this was not the best of career moves as the critique also included a fair share of sarcasm and snarky comments. Seems I don’t have much of a filter.

Lesson #14, boys and girls: Great sarcastic comedy will seldom get you hired. But I digress…

Before you call me a knucklehead (as my mentor did…repeatedly), please know I stand by every criticism I leveled. I’m not the enemy of invention.  If Ferran Adria wants me to realize the essence of thinly shaved and glorious serrano ham as it meets the juicy sweetness of a piece of summer melon by putting me in virtual reality goggles and a space helmet filled with melon scent, who am I to complain?  If Grant Aschatz wants me to experience chicken piccatta by tasting a piccatta flavored breath strip, I’m all for it.  I’m stopping on the way home to actually eat, but I’m all for it.  Thing about both experiences is this: They both <strong>understand</strong> what the individual experiences are about: The sweet, salty rush; The feel of butter on your tongue.  They understand the history. Hotel “X” didn’t get it. 

Being a man of considerable girth, I love eggs benedict. The combination simply sings in a chorus that when done well makes the hairs on your arm stand on end.  I also happen to like the variations:  Eastern shore benedict which replaces the Canadian bacon with crab cakes; anything with a chipotle hollandaise named “Rancho” this or “Santa” that. The thing about Hotel “X” I found offensive was this:  a combination of English muffin, Canadian bacon, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce was named a California Benedict.  Well, huh…how could I and the rest of the country been so mistaken?  Since the name was “California” was I wrong to expect a lighter variation?  Some sort of twist?  At least throw me an avocado in the mix, which seems the definition of “California” cuisine to the rest of the country.  Can you do that, Sparky? Nope. Nada. Zip.

Hotel “X” also had a sandwich on the menu called a “Dip It” which was thinly sliced roast beef and sautéed onions on a hard roll sold with a side of Au Jus that the sandwich could be dipped in before each bite.  Now call me a snob; call me overly critical; just don’t call me Shirley (sorry…not the time for an Airplane reference but it’s late).  If you are even the slightest student of the world of the sandwich, doesn’t that sound like a French Dip?  The very same French Dip rumored to have been invented in, oh I don’t know, say, California!!?  Was my critique valid? Yes!  Was it particularly smart?  Well…no. But what do you expect from someone so sarcastic?

They say those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.  I can honestly say I certainly hope so.  Great food has always been great food.  Create! Invent! But always remember that classics are called “classics” for a reason.  Just think, in 20 years this blog will still exist and still be an appreciation of all those great chefs who came before me and after me.  And I will still be, and always remain, a knucklehead.  Comforting isn’t it?

Hello everyone!  As the new Executive Chef for the Handlery Hotel and Resort, I thought I’d put my two cents in on our blog. 

I’m not dying and not planning on it anytime soon.  I’m not “dark” nor am I a fatalist.  I’m not even truly sitting here wistfully contemplating my mortality with existential thoughts of the great beyond. 

Those who know me can tell you I’m not all that wistful…ever. I also don’t burden myself much with the great beyond.  However, my headstone puzzles me.  How do I want to be remembered? Go with elegant and understated? Elegant and understated fits me like a donkey in a tuxedo. Perhaps a granite structure in the shape of a Jack Daniel’s bottle with a CD of all my favorite songs on motion-sensor repeating loops?  (clearly my favorite and I’m sure the Mighty Dozen would agree)  But what would it say?  As much as I talk in real life, I want to stone to be short, sweet, and to the point.

A Good Man and a Good Chef

Now one might ask why I didn’t mention my wife and children? Well my love for them borders on fanatical, but loving your children and being in love with your wife is all part of being a good man. So do integrity, character, and a long list of other attributes that I hope I have or will learn before that final day.

A Good Chef…that’s a little harder. 

Esquire Magazine recently did an entire issue on how to be a man.  It spoke of things good men do.  It made me think of chefs.  A fellow blogger and very talented chef Len Elias made a very succinct and well written list of the levels of “cheffiness”. A thinking man, which I try to be on occasion, would say he gave us the destination.

Having that, it made me think that maybe we should discuss the trip. It also made me realize that someone should write some things down while in the midst of trying to become that ever-elusive “good chef”.  Stuff I’ve figured out; stuff I’m still figuring out; stuff I may never figure out. I may be strong like bull and smart like tractor but I do know some stuff. So here goes:

Good Chefs are great cooks. They love the process, the ingredients, and the traditions. They are passionate about flavor and presentation, will spend hours coaxing flavor and tenderness out of something a tiger would say was a little “chewy”. However, cooking isn’t enough. I know great cooks who aren’t chefs just like I know some “chefs” who aren’t good cooks

Good Chefs know how to use their equipment; every single piece of it.  Whether it’s in a micro sized mom and pop or a monster hotel “so big you could park airplanes in it” culinary factory, they know it all.  Know which fryer cooks hotter; which oven is off by 20 degrees; know how to make the robot coupe work even when that plastic safety stem is broken.  They know this because the show must go on…always.

 Good Chefs are teachers, first, last, and always. Naturally they teach their staff, but cooks can do that.  Chefs teach the wait staff. Chefs teach catering managers and convention service managers.  Chefs teach the public about their food. Good chefs give it away.

Good Chefs know all the swear words but also know it’s not cool to use them most of the time. Good Chefs also know they can most likely drink you under the table even if it’s a skill you’ll never witness. Good Chefs don’t have nights out with the boys if the boys include members of his staff.

Good Chefs read and they read a lot. They realize that none of us knows everything about our profession but boy we damn sure want to. Good Chefs can also write. It may not ever be anything more than a clear menu description or a staff review, but they can put sentences together in a clear, concise manner.

Good Chefs have a sense of humor.  There is a time and place for it, but they like to laugh. Passionate people always do.

Good Chefs make it their business to know other chefs.  We know we are competitors, rivals even, but we also know we are our own support system.  We go out of our way to help other chefs.

Good Chefs bring it when they don’t have to. They push the quality of the $18 dollar lunch as much as the $80 dinner. They stay and do dish up even after 14 hours. They work 16-hour days and 18-day weeks. They call on their days off even though they know everything should be okay. Good Chefs are somewhat knuckleheaded in this area, but they have trouble “letting go”.

I’ve just looked at the list.  It’s shorter than one might expect but it’s a work in progress, like all good journey’s are. Some of the things on here would indicate that I’m not yet a good chef, but I’d like to think I’m on my way. I know for a fact that all the great, and even simply good, chefs I know are first and foremost good men and good women.  I’d like to be in their company and be able to expand this list as time and experience allows.  I want to be a good man and a good chef.

And when it comes to the end, I hope someone thinks enough of me to put it on my headstone.

Handlery Hotels is excited to announce our new Facebook Page!  Be a fan of Handlery Hotels on Facebook and get sneak peeks into the latest and greatest with the Handlery Hotel and Resort in San Diego and the Handlery Union Square Hotel in San Francisco.  Our Facebook Fans will get the exclusive specials, promotions, and invitations to fun events.

See you on facebook!

Mondays are no longer a day to dread.  Mondays are now a day to be excited about! Classic Movie Mondays at the Handlery Hotel’s 950 Lounge are a great way to ring in the beginning of the week.  Where else can you watch a FREE classic film while you munch on delicions $3 burgers and drink $3 beers?  Oh yes, parking is FREE too.

So join us for Classic Movie Mondays at 950 Lounge.  Don’t believe that it’s a great place to be? Just ask our friendly neighbors at Archstone next door.  Tweet them @ASNPresidioView and they’ll tell give you a great testimonial.